collecting certain information from exhibit-hall attendees. (For an in- depth Convene report on PPACA’s Sunshine provision, visit convn.org/ aca-sunshine.) Now that PPACA is a reality, how are medical meeting professionals — especially those who deal with exhibi- tors — feeling about it? We asked Jackie Beaulieu, executive vice president of the Healthcare Convention & Exhibi- tors Association (HCEA), how Obam- acare might affect medical conferences, trade shows, and other events:
Do you expect the new health-care law to affect medical meetings in any way? If so, how?
The implications of this [Supreme Court] ruling are vast, and there have been many promises that members of Congress will still try to repeal the law (including an unsuccessful vote the week of July 9 to do just that). But for the time being, this ruling indicates that all sys- tems are still go for the implementation of the Sunshine provisions in the law, which require the reporting of cer- tain “transfers of value” health-care companies give to physicians by collect- ing the physicians’ National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers. Many health-care associations are
to assist them in complying with this ruling. Some associations are now planning on collecting the NPI number when attendees register for their meet- ing. Educating attendees as to why col- lecting this information is necessary is also key. For instance, many attendees do not realize that all NPI numbers can currently be found on a public website.
Do you plan on adding programming that addresses PPACA — such as educational sessions explaining the law’s relevance to your members and attendees?
‘The federal law preempts relevant state laws requiring reporting of gifts to health-care professionals.’
HCEA has conducted a number of edu- cational webinars, as educational work- shops during both our Annual Meeting and Healthcare Convention Marketing Summit, that detailed the impact of the Sunshine rules on health-care conventions and convention marketing. Through HCEA’s education program and content, we will continue to provide infor- mation and education on this topic that is relevant and pertinent to our membership as we move toward implementation of the rules and beyond, so that our members are
not currently collecting the NPI num- bers of their convention attendees, yet disclosure of the NPI number by phar- maceutical and medical-device exhibi- tors is required by the PPACA. Being out of compliance can impact decisions about exhibiting and sponsoring, which is why medical associations and their exhibitors are looking for solutions now. This ruling has forced many health- care associations to be much more collaborative with health-care exhibi- tors in finding new and creative ways
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comfortable that they have the most current and timely information on this issue. HCEA will continue to study long-term the affects of how this new health-care law impacts our member- ship and industry.
Do you expect the new health-care law specifically to affect medical exhibitors?
Yes, if it affects medical meetings, it will typically affect medical exhibitors. Health-care exhibitors, in addition to many other marketing tactics, have sometimes included transfers of value in their marketing. The law, which was originally passed in 2010, requires that gifts to health-care professionals be
reported. It incorporates a $10/$100 gift limit. That is, any transfer of value greater than $10 must be reported, and an aggregate annual value of $100 or more must be reported (similar to many of the relevant state laws). There are other important details that should be mentioned as well: › The law appears to standardize these gift limits nationally. Specifically, the federal law preempts relevant state laws requiring reporting of gifts to health-care professionals. › It does not, however, appear to preempt state laws that ban gifts to health-care professionals outright, or that contain any other restrictions that go beyond the federal law. › The law applies to any applicable health-care company “operating in the United States.” This presumably would include companies headquartered outside the country but doing business in the U.S. Over the years and during the imple- mentation of many new regulatory and compliance issues, HCEA has found that health-care exhibitors are very capable and adapt to change by discov- ering new ways to educate health-care professionals about medical therapies and products while still complying with the law. We have seen this dem- onstrated over and over, and this has changed the exhibit floor to be less about selling and much more focused on product education and learning. Giveaways are no longer the focus, and so the exhibit-hall environment is much more focused on learning.